A Managed Volume is a Happy Volume

"Dear ET, The sound coming from my IS desktop is very crackly compared to my desktop. This disturbs my students greatly. What can I do?"

Most the of problems we initially have with bad sound often come from the volume levels of the computers attached to the IS.   The document camera is automatically set at 50% volume. The computers also have their own volume controls, but these are more often manipulated by teachers during normal use. Volume that is set to 100% on the computer will often sound 'too loud' or 'crackly' even when the IS audio is set low.

Manage your volume by keeping the volume on the computers set to 50-60% volume. Leave them there and, when connected to the IS, don't adjust the volume through the computer, but only use the WACI pad volume controls.

In these examples, both Mac and pc audio levels are set to 50-60%.

Control Pad Error

Teachers are coming across an issue with the WACI control pad on the Innovation Station.  Occasionally, the buttons on the pad turn to small black diamonds. The buttons still work, but the button images are no longer visible.

The fix for now is to re-boot the WACI control pad. The teacher should shut down the system so that the control pad, projector, document camera are all turned off. Next, wake the pad by pushing any button and then hold down the middle two buttons until the lights on the pad turn off. The WACI software is now rebooting and will be ready to turn on very soon.

--Instructional?--

How are teachers using input switching during a lesson segment?
Some teachers are finding it useful to have their daily agenda showing on the desktop computer and letting it stay on the screen while the teacher prepares lesson documents on their connected laptop.

Doc Cam Resolution Reset

The Lumens document camera is one of the most powerful teaching tools attached to the Innovation Station.  The doc cam's image capture feature is a great way to capture an image for students to use with their notes, in their digital work, or for a lesson resource.

When using the Doc Cam input, one can push the 'Capture' or 'Record' button to save images to the SD card placed into the doc cam base.  One will get a visual cue that capturing is happening by seeing a rotating hourglass in the top left or 'Recording' in the top right during video capture. 

Occasionally, the user will not see these visual cues when image capturing. Usually, the reason is because the resolution of the doc cam has changed and needs to be reset. The solution is pretty easy.

Teachers can quickly see if they need to change the resolution by pushing the menu button on the base of the doc cam. If the top four menu tabs are visible, then your doc cam is presenting at the correct resolution.

If the top menu tabs are cut off or running off the top of the screen, the resolution needs to be changed. Using the arrow keys on the base of the doc cam, press the right button (3 times) until you see the line "Output Mode" on the screen. Push the down arrow key until Output Mode selection is highlighted. It probably says 'SXGA'. Once highlighted, push the right button to select 'UXGA' and then the enter key on the base. The screen will flash and return to full resolution.

Your doc cam is now ready to show a high quality image which can be captured for classroom use.

--Instructional?--

What innovative way have you used the document camera? How have you used captured images with your class?